What Linux User are you?

[yester64]

Hi, for most of the time i always was puzzled by the sheer amount of licenses that are around and for what they stand.
But overall there is also ideology and what side you are on.
Do you reject everything thats closed on linux, or do adjust to the common ground and make peace with some of the non free software (anything like add ons etc..).

The point is, for people that are strictly opensoftware proponents, the internet looks more darker. Many pages will not work etc...

I personally made peace with the fact, that opensource has its limits and you do have to take some of the closed but free distributed libraries or drivers to get around.

How is your take on this issue, or is it not an issue at all.
Perhaps it is mainly a generation issue where younger people don't see a problem.

In any case i think it would be interesting to see how open people are. Or what opinion everyone has.

Thanks and share your opinion. :D

[FoxMcCloudwp]

I don't think proprietary software is terrible, I prefer open source software, so I don't mind running some close source programs like Flash.

[speedwell68]

I prefer to use software that is free and/or open source. But if I have to use some closed software then I am cool with that too. As long as it is FOC and legal to use I am happy.

[lisati]

I usually don't mind, as long as I'm able to get the job done regardless of whatever annoyances that might present themselves.

[Random_Dude]

I use Ubuntu, but I'm posting this on windows.
So that must answer the question.

[MooPi]

I use flash, and w32codecs. Flash because it is everywhere and w32codecs to convert wma to ogg format. Other than that nothing proprietary. Don't really need the closed apps.

[CaseSensative]

Well my point of view is this. Your base operating system should be 100% free. The bells and whistles that Windows and Mac put on their OS is gorgeous yes, needed no. The average user as we know we have said before listens to music searches the web and writes an occasional paper on Microsoft word. The users who do heavy video and audio compressions and conversations and work in visual arts and design have to pay hundreds of dollars for their software on top of the already OS that is close to 300 dollars with the new windows 7.

Not only is Apple and Microsoft not making their OS's free they refuse to even consider a price drop until a couple of years after release date.

If Apple and Microsoft is supposedly geared to pleasing their customers the price would be way different.

Glorified programmers and designers, they need to pay for that some how.

I know this is a bit of a ramble but closing it up I will say this. Lowering the OS to 50 dollars I almost promise you sales will increase. You also wont geting users who cant afford the OS saying " Well I heard Linux is Free".

[HarrisonNapper]

Using something is one thing, paying for it is another. So the way I work is that if there is an open alternative that is competitive, I use it. I donate to open source developers, I do not pay outrageous amounts for software I can't even try first, much less configure, especially when there is an open alternative. And I think that is something the idea of open source is trying to prove; that regardless of consumer ideology, it is a competitive force that can redefine the way people think about software and the market for software.

That being said there's also the free software (free as in freedom, not as in freeware, er, I mean beer) vs open source software. That topic is just asking me to tl;dr which I do naturally, anyway, but I think I generally agree with the open source side of things.

[tica vun]

I don't like non-Free software. I avoid it where possible (flash, mono, nvidia-nonfree), but in some cases there's just no usable alternative.

[RiceMonster]

I use both Linux and Windows regularly. I think opensource is great, but when it comes down to it, I'm going to use the better option, and often it's the proprietary option.

[chriswyatt]

If I need a to do a job badly enough and the open-source software isn't up to the job, I'll look into buying closed-source software to do it. Simple as that.

For most of my needs open-source software is fine.

[(Corndog)]

Open-Source is a major plus, but with everything I need to or love doing, theres always a reason to use the proprietary software. Regardless of what I'm doing, I was look for an open-source alternative, but most times, it's not there.

[sxmaxchine]

I prefer open source however there are lots of closed i prefer for example i use opera and MS office.

Also i have nothing against Microsoft i just prefer Linux systems.

[DogMatix]

In my day job I am tied to Mac OSX (otherwise my clients look like they can't breathe). At home however, I am not a gamer, I prefer actual reality. So, the line between Microsoft and Linux (free) is becoming blurred. The internet looks and behaves pretty much the same and there always seems to be a GNU alternative app.

[chucky chuckaluck]

i use linux because i'm too cheap to buy real software.

[kenweill]

Closed or open source, i don't care. As long as it works. Gets the job done.

[Lightstar]

I use whatever works, proprietary or open source, doesn't matter since I do not modify the source code anyway. But all my programs are free.

[wykedengel]

I use proprietary formats because lets face it, my iPhone cannot play ogg files. Maybe HTML 5 with help use move away from Flash, but until then, some proprietary codecs will remain on my OS.